Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., told Mike Huckabee that he will not drop out of the U.S. Senate race as party leadership has requested after his remarks on rape and abortion.

“We are going to continue with this race for the U.S. Senate,” Akin told Huckabee on radio today. He reiterated that he misspoke, but then took a shot at the party brass that didn’t support him in the primary.

“They were with us, and then I said one word in one sentence on one day and everything changed, and now we’re back where we were in the primary,” Akin said.

The call for him to resign the party nomination resulted from Akin saying “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down” during a Sunday interview. He released an ad asking for forgiveness, saying that he “used the wrong words in the wrong way.”

Akin said that he “noticed a poll” showing that he still has a lead over McCaskill, even after making the comments — apparently referring to a survey from Public Policy Polling that said he had a one-point lead.